Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
November 23, 2015
I read Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon for Book Club
and raced through it. Having not read any YA in what feels like forever, I was
ready to be swept away by an impossible romance with two characters who have
everything stacked against them.
Literally EVERYTHING.
Madeline Whittier is
allergic to the outside world. So allergic, in fact, that she has never left
the house in all of her seventeen years. But when Olly moves in next door, and
wants to talk to Maddie, tiny holes start to appear in the protective bubble
her mother has built around her. Olly writes his IM address on a piece of
paper, shows it at her window, and suddenly, a door opens. But does Maddie dare
to step outside her comfort zone?
The concept of a teenager not being able to physically leave
the confines of her house (albeit a Grand Designs house in a beautiful
part of America) and not having any prior experience of the outside
world is incredibly strong but after a while the characters become so vivid
that they take on the story and leave the concept behind. The writing is
simple, at times factual where Maddie writes of her routine and Olly’s schedule
as she watches the comings and goings of the residents next door.
Completely told from Maddie’s perspective, her voice was
surprisingly mature and developed which was at odds with what I was expecting
of someone who has only ever encountered their mother, nurse and tutors after
they have gone through a rigorous deep-cleansing routine to rid them of germs
from the outside world.
There is a fantastic twist (which I guessed at page five but
was still satisfied with). I was left wanting more, and I still want to know
what happens next which is always a sign of a good read. Entertaining, romantic
and original, I’d read more of Nicola’s work any day.
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